A Whole Bunch of Loki's

The Ankou - Death Loki

Night was nearing fast, faster than you had anticipated.

Mentally you cursed yourself whilst scanning the darkening forest for any sign of light that could be breaking through from amongst the trees, but you saw nothing beyond dark greens and browns.

You had known that coming towards the forest was foolish, even during the brightest of days, yet something had been calling to you all week from the edge of the trees and you finally gave in as the whispering seemed to get more intense with each day.

There had been stories about this forest and the inhabitants within.

Many would tell of werewolves who lived in the darkness, others told stories about witches who lured children in to either curse or devour them.

Your favourite one had been the story of the Ankou.

A tale about a prince with an affinity for hunting who had been doing just that within the forest, this night he had his eyes set on a white stag when he stumbled upon another being, one shrouded in a dark robe atop a large black horse.

This being challenged the prince, the one who killed the stag first would keep the meat and have control over the loser's fate.

The arrogant prince accepted the conditions and they set off to catch the white stag, almost instantaneously the prince knew that he was beat as the shrouded figure took the lead in no time at a phenomenal speed.

The shrouded figure killed the animal and decided that the fate of the cruel prince was to take over from him as the figure of Death with the words: "You may have the stag and all the dead of the world."

You never grew tired of that story despite the many times you had heard it whilst growing up, it was one of those tales that would surely stick with you for years still to come and one you were certain you would regale your children with.

During your musing, you had failed to notice that the trees had started to thin and soon you found yourself stepping into a large clearing.

The sun beat down from the sky and warmed the luscious green grass, flowers bloomed in beautiful colours and bushes held berries that would surely be safe to eat.

There was only one thing that stood out amongst the masses of nature.

Sat amongst the trees in a large clearing was what appeared to be a black carriage of sorts.

You frowned at the peculiarity and stopped walking, staring towards it with hesitation and unease.

There didn't appear to be any breaks within the tree line that would explain how a carriage, even one as small as this, had managed to settle within that particular spot and there didn't seem to be anybody around.

Your heart began to beat faster as you remembered details of the fable you had just been thinking about.

The carriage of the Ankou is said to be small and black and acted as a hearse, a thought which froze your blood, but not as much as the knowledge that there could also be two other ghostly figures lurking about aside from the Ankou.

You were screaming internally to go back the way you had come, to try and find the passage you had entered through and never look back, but you knew that you had been walking for hours and backtracking previously had proven to only get you lost further.

There was also a welcoming warmth that came from the lingering sun, although the light was fading this particular spot within the forest felt warmer and more comforting than anything you could remember previously.

Somehow leaving this radiating feeling of ease to step back into a cold forest and get lost further was a worse fate than being near this strange carriage, so you decided to stay and investigate a little further.